4of 37Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney in the public defender's office approaches a hoard of press people outside of the courtroom after Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty in the Hall of Justice Nov. 30, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

6of 37San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi addresses the press outside of the courtroom after Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty.
.Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

7of 37Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney in the public defender's office (left) listens as defense attorney Francisco Ugarte addresses the press outside of the courtroom after Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty.Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

8of 37San Francisco Sheriff's Deputies guard courtroom 13 as the verdict for the Kate Steinle trial is announced inside of it in the Hall of Justice Nov. 30, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

9of 37Courtroom artist Vicki Behringer's watercolor depicts the Judge giving instructions to the jury on the day of closing arguments in the Kate Steinle trial at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.Photo: Vicki Behringer, Special to The Chronicle

10of 37Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, right, is led into the courtroom by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco.Photo: Michael Macor, San Francisco Chronicle

12of 37Flowers and a portrait of Kate Steinle displayed at a memorial site on Pier 14 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Paul Chinn, San Francisco Chronicle

13of 37Jim Steinle (checked shirt, center), Kate Steinle's father and Liz Sullivan (black shirt,left), Kate Steinle's mother make their way through the Hall of Justice on the day of closing arguments in the Kate Steinle trial in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle

14of 37A man (right) with the Mexican consulate and relatives of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, also known as Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez walk through the Hall of Justice on the day of closing arguments in the Kate Steinle trial in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle

15of 37Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney in the public defender's office, speaks to the media at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the Kate Steinle murder trial on Monday, October 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

16of 37Jose Ines Garcia Zarate listens during the first day of his murder trial on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif. Garcia Zarate is accused of shooting Kate Steinle in 2015.Photo: Vicki Behringer, Special to The Chronicle

17of 37Chief Deputy Public Defender Matt Gonzalez gives his opening statements during the Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, second from left, murder trial on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif. Garcia Zarate is accused of shooting Kate Steinle in 2015.Photo: Vicki Behringer, Special to The Chronicle

18of 37James Steinle (left), the father of Kate Steinle, walks through a corridor at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the Kate Steinle muder trial on Monday, October 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

19of 37Liz Sullivan, the mother of Kate Steinle, walks through a corridor at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the Kate Steinle muder trial on Monday, October 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

20of 37George Gascon (second from left) San Francisco District Attorney, leaves Department 13 during a break on the first day of the Kate Steinle murder trial at the Hall of Justice on Monday, October 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

21of 37San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi (second from left) walks through the Hall of Justice on the first day of the Kate Steinle murder trial on Monday, October 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

22of 37Liz Sullivan (foreground right), the mother of Kate Steinle; Brad Steinle (second from left), the brother of Kate Steinlde, and his wife Amy (third from left) walk through the Hall of Justice on the first day of the Kate Steinle muder trial on Monday, October 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

23of 37Brad Steinle, the brother of Kate Steinle, left, and his wife Amy walk to a courthouse in San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. A trial begins this week for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a Mexican man who set off a national immigration debate after he fatally shot Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier on on July 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

24of 37San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi goes through a security check before entering Department 13 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the Kate Steinle muder trial on Monday, October 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

25of 37A well-wisher drops off flowers at the site where 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was killed on July 6, 2015 in San Francisco, California. According to police, Steinle was shot and killed by Francisco Sanchez as she walked with her father on San Francisco's Pier 14 on July 1. Sanchez had been previously deported five times. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

26of 37Liz Sullivan and James Steinle at their home in Livermore, Calif., the mother and father of Kate Steinle.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

27of 37Liz Sullivan at her home in Livermore, Calif., the mother Kate Steinle who was shot and killed on Pier 14.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

29of 37Jim Steinle, father of Kathryn Steinle, killed on a San Francisco Pier by a man previously deported several times, arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary hearing in Washington, Tuesday, July 21, 2015. Jim Steinle told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Congress should push forward with efforts to close legal loopholes that currently allow local authorities to decide if they will cooperate with federal immigration authorities.Photo: Molly Riley, Associated Press

30of 37Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez (middle) comments after the jury in the Kate Steinle murder trial found Jose Ines Garcia Zarate not guilty of murder charges in San Francisco. Garcia Zarate was found guilty of a lesser charge and will be sentenced later.Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

31of 37Garcia Zarate (right) is led into the courtroom by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi (left) for his arraignment in the death of Kate Steinle at the Hall of Justice in 2015.Photo: Michael Macor, Associated Press

32of 37Kate SteinlePhoto: Handout photo

33of 37Jose Ines Garcia Zarate (left) and Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia (right) listen to James R. Steinle during the first day of Zarate's murder trial on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif. Garcia Zarate is accused of shooting Jame's daughter Kate Steinle in 2015.Photo: Vicki Behringer, Special to The Chronicle

34of 37Jim Steinle (checked shirt, center), Kate Steinle's father and Liz Sullivan (black shirt,left), Kate Steinle's mother make their way through the Hall of Justice on the day of closing arguments in the Kate Steinle trial in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle

35of 37San Francisco District Attorney Office spokesperson Alex Bastian leaves after addressing the press after Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty in the Hall of Justice Nov. 30, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

37of 37Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney in the public defender's office is followed by media members as he leaves the courtroom after Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty in the Hall of Justice Nov. 30, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

A jury handed a stunning acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges to a homeless undocumented immigrant whose arrest in the killing of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco Bay pier intensified a national debate over sanctuary laws.

In returning its verdict Thursday afternoon on the sixth day of deliberations, the Superior Court jury also pronounced Jose Ines Garcia Zarate not guilty of assault with a firearm, finding credence in defense attorneys’ argument that the shot that ricocheted off the concrete ground before piercing Steinle’s heart was an accident, with the gun discharging after the defendant stumbled upon it on the waterfront on July 1, 2015.

Garcia Zarate, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen who was released from County Jail before the killing despite a federal request that he be held for his sixth deportation, was convicted of a single lesser charge of being a felon in possession of a gun. He faces a sentence of 16 months, two years or three years in state prison. Garcia Zarate, who has already served well over two years in jail and gets credit for that time, will be sentenced at a date not yet determined.

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The Steinle family reflects on the circumstances surrounding the death of their daughter Kathryn, who was shot and killed on Pier 14 in 2015.

Video: Manjula Varghese, Guy Wathen, Lea Suzuki

The verdict set off a flurry of reactions. Defense attorneys said the case had been overcharged, while U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed the killing on San Francisco’s policy of refusing cooperation with immigration agents. Jim Steinle, who had been strolling on the pier with his daughter when she fell, told The Chronicle he was “saddened and shocked,” adding, “Justice was rendered, but it was not served.”

Garcia Zarate showed little emotion when the verdict was read, but hugged his attorneys. Public Defender Jeff Adachi, whose office represented Garcia Zarate, said his client was “extremely relieved.”

“He knew what was at stake — his life was at stake,” Adachi said. “I think he feels tremendous sympathy for Kate Steinle and her family — we do as well — but unfortunately these types of horrible, tragic accidents happen every day.”

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President Trump, who has cited the case in his effort to build a border wall, said on Twitter, “A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration.”

Defense attorney Francisco Ugarte suggested a different lesson, saying, “From day one, this case was used as a means to foment hate, to foment division, to foment a program of mass deportation ... and I believe today is a vindication for the rights of immigrants.”

Jurors exited the city’s Hall of Justice quickly and declined to discuss their deliberations. “If I’m going to speak to anybody, I’m not going to do it today,” said one man, who declined to give his name. “I have to collect my thoughts.”

Garcia Zarate was charged from the beginning with murder, and prosecutors gave the jury the option of convicting him of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter. Jurors rejected all three.

The defendant is not likely to be released again in the city. San Francisco officials have long said they will turn over undocumented immigrants to federal authorities if they obtain a warrant, and records show Garcia Zarate is being held on a U.S. Marshals Service warrant.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “will work to take custody of Mr. Garcia Zarate and ultimately remove him from the country,” Tom Homan, the agency’s deputy director, said in a statement.

Steinle, 32, had been walking with her arm around her father on Pier 14 when she was struck in the back by a single bullet. The round had skipped off the concrete ground after being fired from a pistol that had been stolen, four days earlier, from the nearby parked car of a federal ranger.

Prosecutors told the jury that Garcia Zarate brought the gun to the pier that day to do harm, aimed it toward Steinle and pulled the trigger. Assistant District Attorney Diana Garcia spent much of the trial seeking to prove the pistol that killed Steinle couldn’t have fired without a firm pull of the trigger, while establishing that Garcia Zarate tossed the weapon into the bay before fleeing the scene.

Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said Thursday that prosecutors had found sufficient evidence for the charges at every step of the case.

“The verdict that came in today was not the one we were hoping for, but I think it’s unequivocal that both sides gave it their all,” Bastian said. “This really is about the Steinle family. They’ve shown incredible resolve during this whole process, and our hearts go out to them.”

Defense lawyers said the shooting was an accident that happened when Garcia Zarate, who had a history of nonviolent drug crimes, found the gun wrapped in a T-shirt or cloth under his seat on the pier just seconds before it discharged in his hands. Lead attorney Matt Gonzalez said his client had never handled a gun and was scared by the noise, prompting him to fling the weapon into the bay, where a diver fished it out a day later.

Earlier Thursday, jurors paused their deliberations to ask if they could test the pistol’s trigger. Judge Samuel K. Feng said no.

During the monthlong trial, jurors watched video from Garcia Zarate’s four-hour police interrogation, in which he offered varying statements about his actions on the pier. At one point he said he had aimed at a “sea animal,” and at another point, he said the gun had been under a rag that lay on the ground near the waterfront, and that it fired when he stepped on it.

Gonzalez said it was clear in the video that Garcia Zarate — who has spent much of his adult life behind bars, was living on the street before the shooting, and has a second-grade education — did not fully understand what the officers were asking him through an officer’s Spanish translation.

The .40-caliber Sig Sauer pistol had been stolen from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger’s car after he drove into the city and parked along the Embarcadero. No one has been arrested in the burglary, one of several cases in recent years in which Bay Area law enforcement officers lost guns to thieves and which have prompted legislators to push for tougher requirements for securing weapons.

Jurors had to ignore the political firestorm that hit San Francisco in the days following Steinle’s death. Proponents of stricter enforcement of immigration laws pointed to the killing as an example of the dangers of shielding people who are in the U.S. illegally, and Trump referred to the crime several times during his 2016 presidential campaign.

“My opponent wants sanctuary cities,” Trump said in his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. “But where was the sanctuary for Kate Steinle?”

Before the shooting, Garcia Zarate had been on track for a sixth deportation after serving 46 months in prison for felony re-entry into the country. But his course changed when he was transferred from federal custody to San Francisco County Jail in March 2015 on an old warrant alleging he fled marijuana charges in 1995.

When city prosecutors discharged the case, the Sheriff’s Department released Garcia Zarate despite a federal request to hold him for deportation. Then-Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi cited the city’s sanctuary policies, which limit local cooperation with immigration enforcement and seek to encourage undocumented people to feel comfortable having a relationship with city agencies.

Anger over Garcia Zarate’s release contributed to Mirkarimi’s 2016 re-election defeat. But San Francisco remains committed to its sanctuary status, and Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a bill to create a statewide sanctuary policy.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors amended the city’s sanctuary policies after the shooting. But if a person with Garcia Zarate’s record before the Pier 14 shooting were in San Francisco jail today, and eligible for release, he would still be freed rather than turned over to immigration agents in the absence of a federal warrant.

The case continues to reverberate. The Trump administration has invoked the shooting in its effort, unsuccessful so far, to strip federal funds from cities and states that refuse to take part in immigration enforcement. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, passed “Kate’s Law,” which would increase prison sentences for immigrants who re-enter the U.S. after deportation.

After Thursday’s verdict, Sessions released a statement saying that San Francisco’s decision to “protect criminal aliens led to the preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle.”

Gonzalez punched back, reminding Trump, Sessions and Vice President Mike Pence of the ongoing investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The men, he said, “may soon avail themselves of the presumption of innocence and beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard.”

Vivian Ho has worked for the San Francisco Chronicle since 2011, covering crime and breaking news as a Go Team reporter with a desk in the Hall of Justice. She reported on Black Lives Matter demonstrations, the Occupy movement, the Napa earthquake, the Rim Fire and the World Series riots as well as on homicides, criminal street gangs, sexual assaults, domestic violence cases and police personnel matters. She also writes for Chronicle Watch, a weekly column exploring stubborn issues in the Bay Area. Before she joined The Chronicle, Vivian reported for the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Vivian spent most of her life in the frozen tundra that is New England and has a hard time understanding weather stories in California.